Estimating things

Good day.  I've been absent lately while real life (and winter) have intruded on the artistic practice.  But now I have a few things to share.

A while back I wrote about blogger Christine Estima and her widely circulated work in local weekly The Grid.  In the meantime she has continued to document street art things, including the only photo I've seen that shows the remains of the Some Conditions Apply stencil underneath Joel Richardson's mural at Lansdowne and Dupont.

Here's the photo I took right after doing the stencil, before Joel's mural was restored:

And here's one that Christine took afterward, where it just barely peeks through:

Photo by Christine Estima

I will be interested to see how it ages.


Christine has also captured a bunch of the Things stencils around town:

Photo by Christine Estima

Photo by Christine Estima

For more, check out the 'THINGS' category on The Spadina Monologues.  Cheers!

The Best of Photoist 2011

The good folks over at Torontoist have put together their picks for the year's 50 best photos from their daily user-submitted Photoist feature.  I was pleased to see #33, a shot by Vic Gedris of the "Some conditions apply" stencil on Bloor West near the Railpath.

Photo by Vic Gedris

To see the other excellent photos, visit The Best of Photoist 2011.

Thanks to Vic and Torontoist.  2012 should be a great year (aside from the Mayan apocalypse).

Ford resurfaces

Photo by Martin Reis

From June, 2011...

Toronto Star:
"Artist Joel Richardson says the city has painted over a popular Dupont St. mural that it paid him $2,000 to create, an apparent misfire in Mayor Rob Ford's war on graffiti.

A city spokeswoman says the railway underpass wall was returned to drab grey because Richardson's artwork was unauthorized, uncommissioned, political and may have 'referred to (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper.' "

Photo from Toronto Life

I wanted to help Ford own up to his mistake, so:

Unfortunately my mural didn't last long either.  

A few months later, Joel Richardson repainted the wall with a new mural.  But, lo and behold...

Photo by Martin Reis

Photo by Martin Reis

Photo by Martin Reis

A big thanks to Joel Richardson and his assistant for restoring the stencil, and to Martin Reis for all your great photos.

Some conditions apply

Kind of a follow-up to the copyright stencil:

Photo by Vic Gedris

Vic Gedris:
"It's a constant back'n'forth game around here, as graffiti shows up on the walls, then gets sloppily painted over by the City.

I believe the "Some Conditions Apply" phrasing here is a commentary about the various states of legality / illegality, and sometimes uncertain approval processes for legalizing artwork."

Photo by Martin Reis

Photo by Martin Reis